teken

Te​ken is a Dutch noun meaning sign, mark, symbol, or indicator. It denotes something that conveys information, signals a condition, or functions as a symbol within a system of signs. In everyday language, tekens can be concrete, such as traffic signs or weather icons, or abstract, such as a gesture or a nod of agreement. The phrase een teken van leven refers to a sign of life.

Te​ken is also related to drawing. The root forms include teken as a noun meaning sign, tekeningen meaning drawings, and the verb tekenen meaning to draw. The word tekening refers to a drawing or sketch, while tekenen is the action of drawing. The broadened sense connects signs and representations across different media.

Computing and typography use teken to mean a character or glyph. In Dutch, you might encounter ASCII-teken or Unicode-teken. Tekens is used for individual characters within a string, and tekenreeks denotes a sequence of characters, i.e., a text string. This usage is common in programming, data processing, and digital typography.

In semiotics and linguistics, teken is the standard Dutch term for a sign in the broad sense, encompassing any meaningful element in a communicative system. It covers linguistic signs, symbolic signs, and indicators used to convey meaning within a code or language. The word thus spans everyday language, art and drawing, computing, and theoretical disciplines, reflecting its versatile role as a basic unit of representation and communication.